INSIDE THE NBA.

Mvp Talk Can't Move Malone

Karl Malone, waiting along with the rest of the Jazz to play Houston or Seattle in the Western Conference finals, didn't want to talk about the possibility of his winning his first MVP award.

"I'll believe it when I see it, if they give it to me. I just don't want to talk about it now," he said.

The Jazz have been waiting to see who will face them in their fourth conference finals in six years.

"We've never had the opportunity to get this much rest before," Malone said. "It's a luxury, to have this time. It kind of feels weird, like it's summer and the season's over."

But he's making sure no one forgets the team's season-long goal of playing for the league championship.

"We know what to do: Keep our nose to the grindstone. . . . You make sure to stay ready," Malone said. "It's been great so far, but it's certainly not where we want to be yet."

Off to see the Wizards: The renamed Washington Wizards on Thursday unveiled a logo featuring--surprise--a bearded magician with a pointed hat.

The slick, modern design has the sorcerer in blue, his chest emblazoned with a--sur-prise--black "W" as he leaps over a gold crescent basketball-seamed moon. The Wizard is also spinning a gold basketball with one hand and pointing to a gold star with the other.

"You have the make the logo appealing to the kids," said forward Juwan Howard, who was on the design committee. "They're the ones who get their moms and dads out to buy all those tickets. They're the ones who get their moms and dads to buy the apparel."